Reading: activities

ACTIVITIES
Before Reading
1 Read the back cover and the story introduction on the first page of the book. Are these sentences true (T) or
false (F)?
1 The story takes place just before Christmas. T
2 The story takes place in Italy. T
3 The murderer moved the dead man's furniture. F The dead man had been in the habit of moving his furniture
on three o'clock in the morning.
4 The dead man was shot. T
5 The police found an stolen gun in the dead man's flat. F The police found a stolen antique in the
Englishman's flat.
6 Two people said that they heard noises in the night. T
7 Carabiniere Bacci is an experienced police officer. F Carabiniere Bacci is training to be a police officer.
He's serious enthusiastic and very inexperienced.
8 The Marshal is ill. T
2 What is going to happen in the story? Can you guess? For each answer, circle Y (Yes) or N (No).
1 The police will find out that...
• The dead man was a criminal. [Y]/N
• The dead man was shot by accident. Y/[N]
• The little girl was telling the truth. [Y]/N
2 The police will arrest...
• An antique dealer. Y/[N]
• Miss White. Y/[N]
• A thief. [Y]/N
3 Who will catch the murderer?
a) Carabiniere Bacci [Y]/N
b) The Marshal Y/[N]
c) The Captain Y/[N]
ACTIVITIES
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While Reading
Read Chapter 1, and then answer these questions.
Why
1 . . . was Cipolla at Via Maggio, number fifty−eight? Because he works there, he's the cleaner.
2 . . . was Carabiniere Bacci sleeping in the office? Because the Marshal had a feverish cold, and was in bed
upstairs in his flat.
3 . . . did Cipolla want to speak to the Marshal? Because he knows him, he lives next door to his sister.
4 . . . didn't Bacci wake the Marshal up? Because he didn't like the Marshal at all.
5 . . . did Cipolla look strange? Because he's ill.
6 . . . was the angel's head a problem? Because it was a beautiful antique who has an official government seal
around the neck.
Read Chapters 2 to 4. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)? Rewrite the false ones with the correct
information.
1 Two policemen came from England to help the Italian police. T
2 Langley−Smythe was shot three times. F Langley−Smythe was shot once, in the back.
3 The police couldn't find the gun. T
4 There was no money in the safe in the bedroom. F There was also a lot of money, almost half a million
pounds, in the safe in the bedroom wall.
5 The angel's head had been stolen from a museum. F The angel's head had been taken from the house of an
American woman who was away in America.
6 Giovanna had heard two bangs in the night. T
7 The first bang was the noise of a gun. F The first bang was the noise of the front door downstairs.
8 Bacci's English was good enough for him to question Miss White. F Bacci's English wasn't good enough for
him to question Miss White.
9 There were fingerprints of two people in Langley−Smythe's flat. F There were fingerprints of seven different
people in his flat.
10 The police knew that the local greengrocer was a criminal. T
Read Chapters 5 and 6. Why do the police think these things? Give a reason for each one. Do you agree with
the police?
1 Langley−Smythe was waiting for a visitor before he died. There were signs that Langley−Smythe had lain
on the bed while he was waiting for his visitor, one of the books that he had borrowed from the library, was
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lying on the bed, and the other was on the little table next to the bed. I agree.
2 The visitor didn't want to steal Langley−Smythe's money. The safe was open and he had turned his back to
the visitor, nobody wanted to steal the money because it was still in the safe. I agree.
3 Langley−Smythe changed his furniture in the middle of the night about once a month. Miss White said that
she saw Langley−Smythe changing his furniture so many times. I agree.
4 Langley−Smythe was exporting antiques illegally. The new furniture that Langley−Smythe get once a
month were antiques. I agree.
5 Langley−Smythe was shot while he was going into his bedroom. He has going into his bedroom to put in the
safe the money that the dealer paid him.
6 The criminals left the furniture and the angel's head. When they saw the light of the girl they get scared so
they run.
7 The antique dealer who was helping the thieves was Cesarini. Cesarini is the Captain's suspect.
8 Cesarini was the murderer. Cesarini is not the murderer, but he's probably the antique dealer who was
helping the thieves.
Before you read Chapter 7 (The Chase), can you guess what happens? For each sentence, circle Y (Yes) or N
(No).
1 Cesarini comes down to the flat alone. [Y]/N
2 The police shoot Cesarini. Y/[N]
3 Cesarini shoots one of the police officers. [Y]/N
4 The police arrest the greengrocer. [Y]/N
5 One of the criminals runs away. [Y]/N
Read Chapters 7 and 8. Who said this, and to whom? Why did they say it, or what were they talking about?
1 `We were expecting you.' The Captain to Cesarini. When he arrived at night.
2 `Don't stop!' The man who come with Cesarini to the Englishman's flat, to the bus driver, when the bus has
to stop at the bus stop.
3 `I don't want to die.' The bus driver to the passenger, when he put his gun on the driver's back.
4 `Get out of my bedroom' The Marshal to the little cleaner, in his dreams.
5 ` What did you do with the gun' The Captain to Cesarini talking about the gun of the murderer.
6 `I own it.' Cesarini to the Captain, talking about the flat.
7 `He didn't pay you any rent, did he?' The Captain to Cesarini, talking about the rent of the Englishman's flat.
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8 `She's been shot...' Carabiniere Bacci to the Marshal, while he was kneeling by a woman in front of the lift
door, somebody shot the woman.
Read Chapters 9 and 10. Choose the best question−word for these questions and then answer them.
What / Where / Who / Why
1 Who was the woman who was shot?
2 Where was she when she was shot?
3 Where did Cipolla throw the gun at first?
4 Why did Cipolla pick the gun up again?
5 What did Cipolla think when the Marshal took him to the café?
6 What was Martha doing when she was shot?
7 Why did Cipolla's wife go out to work when she was ill?
6 Why were Cipolla and his wife angry with Langley−Smythe?
7 Who shot the Englishman?
Before you read Chapter 11, can you guess the answers to these questions?
1 Will Langley−Smythe's family make trouble for Cipolla? Yes some...
2 Will they find the gun? Where? Yes, in the Englishman's flat...
3 Will Carabiniere Bacci leave the police? No, he'll continue training.
4 Will the Marshal catch his train and go home for Christmas? Yes he'll, the story has to end with a happy
ending.
ACTIVITIES
After Reading
1 Match these halves of sentences and put them in the correct order to complete the beginning of Bacci's first
report. Use these words to join your sentences.
After / and / and so / as soon as / because / because / that / when / which / while
8 As soon as I arrived at Via Maggio fifty−eight
12 I rang Langley−Smythe's bell.
1 No one answered
17 and so I asked the night−guard to let me into the building.
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5 After I opened the front door of Langley−Smythe's flat,
2 Then I noticed the body,
16 that was lying on the floor by the bedroom door.
14 And I didn't know what to do.
15 I saw the cleaner, Cipolla, sitting in an armchair.
13 Which start cleaning up the courtyard.
6 I telephoned the Marshal
20 I decided to give Cipolla something to do.
4 I told him to go outside
3 I left the flat for a few minutes after the Marshal arrived
10 While we were waiting for the Marshal
19 the captain told Cipolla to put down his bag of rubbish and come to the police station with us.
9 When I came back from the shop,
7 The Marshal told me
18 that the cleaner's wife was dying and that I should keep him there.
2 Complete the conversation that Cipolla had with Langley−Smythe before the shooting. Use as many words
as you like.
LANGLEY−SMYTHE: What are you doing here?
CIPOLLA: I want the money of my wife's job.
LANGLEY−SMYTE: Money! You stupid little man. I never asked her to work for me.
CIPOLLA: But she did a good job for you. She worked hard, and now she's going to die.
LANGLEY−SMYTHE: I don't care about that. Get out! Look, I've got a gun and I'm not afraid to use it.
CIPOLLA: I'm not going until you pay me. Call the police if you want. I know a Marshal of the Carabinieri.
He will help me.
LANGLEY−SMYTHE: Come here and listen to me. Your wife was a thief. She steals me. I'm going to tell it to
everybody.
CIPOLLA: But you're lying!
3 Cipolla's lawyer said that the death of the Englishman was an accident, not a murder. Complete what he
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said. Use one word in each gap. Do you agree with him? Explain why.
This man must not go to prison. The Englishman was shot by accident; Signor Cipolla is not a murderer. He
had a terrible life when he was a child because of the money. His father was poor and his family never had
enough to eat. After the war, he came to Florence and worked as a cleaner. He got married, but his wife could
not have children and this made her very unhappy. Signor Cipolla worked hard to take care of his wife, but
then she became very ill. There was nothing that the Cipolla's could do, so Signora Cipolla took a job
cleaning the Englishman's house. She wanted to make enough money to die at home with her husband beside
her. But the cruel Englishman, who was also a criminal, never paid her. And Signor Cesarini, who arranged
the cleaning job, didn't paid her either. So in the end, Signor Cipolla couldn't stay at home with his wife
because they needed his money to buy things for her pain. On the night that his wife died, a man gave Signor
Cipolla some `grappa', which made him drunk. He went to see the Englishman, who was angry and took out a
gun. Then he put it down; he point Signor Cipolla across the face and called his wife a thief. Signor Cipolla
picked up the gun because he wanted to make Langley−Smythe listen to him, not because he wanted to shot
him. He aimed the gun at the bedroom quickly, and when he shot the Englishman, his eyes were open!
Yes I agree with what the Cipolla's lawyer said, it's all true, Cipolla's never want to hurt anybody, he only
want the money, and to talk with the Englishman.
4 Match these characters to the notes below, and then write a short description of each one. Use the notes and
add any other information that you think is important.
Carabiniere Bacci / Cesarini / Cipolla / Giovanna / Marshal Guarnaccia / Milena / Miss White
1 Milena had English lessons, she couldn't have children, she wanted to go out to work, and she's very ill.
2 Marshal Guarnaccia is fat, he's from Sicily, he usually wears dark glasses, he's a very experienced Marshal,
and he notice every detail.
3 Cesarini, is a legal antiques dealer, he usually wears expensive clothes, he's the owner of the Englishman's
flat, and he helped him to export antiques illegally.
4 Giovanna, she's fat, she has black hair, she lives in the second floor, she likes guns, and she took the gun out
of the black rubbish bag.
5 Miss White can't speak Italin, she owns a museum about an English poet, she's very nice.
6 Carabiniere Bacci, is young, and very inexperienced, he lives in Florence, an he speaks a little English.
7 Cipolla, usually wears a black overall, loves the city, and he didn't want his wife to work.
5 Do you agree (A) or disagree (D) with these sentences? Explain why.
♦ Carabiniere Bacci was wrong to dislike the Marshal just because he came from Sicily. A You
can't dislike people only because where they are from.
♦ Carabiniere Bacci will make a good policeman one day. A If he continues working hard,
maybe one day will be a good policeman.
♦ Cipolla was wrong to stop his wife from working. D He wasn't wrong, his wife wasn't been
paid, is better she stops working, and she was ill.
♦ Cipolla's problems happened because he just patiently accepted what life offered. D Cipolla's
problems happened because life was terrible for him.
♦ Langley−Smythe was more like a murderer than Cipolla. A Cipolla isn't a murderer, he shoot
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Langley−Smythe by accident, but Langley−Smythe will could him if he want.
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